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W\Y  '■ 

1  \^ou7hAhskicaC  /  \\  /) 

fVhy  Invest  in  Africa? 

Because  the  missionary  ])rohlem  in  Africa  is  critical,  and 
hccausc  that  vast,  needy  continent  is  too  often  overlooked.  The 
Far  Fast —  aggressive  -Japan,  potential  China,  and  restless  India  — 
holds  our  attention;  hut  Africa  —  so  immense  that  it  could  contain 
all  North  America  and  kAiroj)e  —  hardly  arrests  our  glaiu-e.  ^Tt 
in  Africa  (diristianity  is  waging  a  war  on  three  “fronts”  —  with  the 
foievs  oi  unscrupulous  v  'ommereialism,  of  raganism,oi  Mohammedan¬ 
ism.  If  the  forces  of  (’hri.stianity  are  not  adequately  re-enforeed, 
e(|ui])])ed  and  maintained,  the  eoiupiest  of  the  continent  for  Christ 
will  he  indefinitely  post))oned. 

The  forces  of  ('ommercialism  (;ertaiuly  have  not  o\’erlook('d 
Africa.  Creat  forests,  ahundant  mineral  wealth  copper,  iron, 
tin,  coal,  gold  and  diamonds  —  long  ago  attracted  the  jirospeetor 
who  wanted  to  see  Africa  “developed.”  But  along  with  the  pro¬ 
moters  of  legitimate  trade  have  gone  the  un,seru])ulous  traders,  out 
to  ex])loit  Africa.  The  sttiries  of  the  early  slave  trade,  of  the  (’ongo 
atrocities,  and  of  the  jire.sent-day  virtual  slavery  on  the  cocoa  ])lan- 
tations  of  San  Thome  and  Brinei])e  show  what  havoc  the.se  e.\])loiters 
can  hring  to  a  child  race.  Wherever  the  unscrupulous  eomuiereial 
leader  has  gone,  into  the  ]>orts,  up  the  great  river  \'alleys  into  the 
heart  of  the  eoutinent,  along  the  railroads,  or  in  the  mines  of  the 
south,  there  the  ('hristian  missionary  and  his  African  helpers  must 
the  nio.st  dehasing  vices  of  “civilization.” 

Mohammedanism  has  not  overlooked  Africa.  While  the  ehureh  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  busy  with 
the  (’rusades,  the  opportunity  to  strengthen  the  Chri.stian  forces  in  Africa  was  passing.  ^Mohammedanism 
was  taking  ])osse.ssion  of  North  Africa.  Gradually,  IMohammedan  forces  have  progre.s.sed.  In  recent  years 
a  new  zeal  has  seized  them,  and  more  rapidly  than  ever  liefore  they  have  marched  southward.  The  whole 
northern  ])art  of  the  continent,  nearly  to  the  eipiator,  is  penetrated  by  Mohammedan  forces.  I  nless  the 
(diristian  forces,  sparsely  .scattered  along  the  IMeiliterranean  and  the  Nile  ^h^lley,  and  more  solidly  entrenched 
in  the  .southern  ])art  of  the  continent,  are  re-eiiforeed  and  maintained,  that  onward,  moving  army  cannot 
be  stopped.  Mohammedanism  today  is  claiming  not  otdy  countless  pagan  tribes  but  is  (‘ven  winning  over 
occasional  Christian  villages,  not  fully  established  in  (’hrist. 

And  there  is  Paganism,  constituting  the  third  great  “front”  which  (’hristianity  faces.  Aliont  forty 
million  Africans,  in  the  central  and  southern  zones,  are  held  in  the  grij)  of  a  religion  of  fear.  Myriad  ho.stile 
spirits,  superstitions  without  number,  degrading  customs,  witchcraft,  polygamy,  hold  this  virile,  promising 

’I 

! 


RAW  MATERIAL  AFRICA 
wage  a  cea.seless  warfare  against 


I 


people  ill  bondage.  Wherever  the  Christian  missionary  forces  have  been  strongly  established  thousands 
of  lives  have  been  transformed  into  Christlike  character.  But  vast  regions  in  the  heart  of  Africa  remain 
unevangelized.  Surely  Christian  forces  adequate  to  occupy  these  regions  must  be  provided. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  FORGES 

The  late  Lortl  Bryce  said,  “The  Gosiiel  and  the  mission  schools  are  at  present  the  most  truly  civilizing 
influences  which  work  upon  the  natives,  and  upon  these  influences,  more  than  on  any  other  agency,  does 
the  progress  of  the  colored  race  depend.” 

The  missionaries  have  ])ut  the  light  s])ots  in  dark  Africa.  Champions  of  every  reform  movement, 
they  have  struck  blow  after  blow  against  the  slave  trade,  the  liiiuor  traffic,  and  every  injustice  in  whatever 
name.  In  1917,  119  Protestant  missionary  societies  were  at  work  in  Africa,  thirty-six  of  them  American. 
The  whole  missionary  force  mim))ered  5,300.  ( 'ommunicanls  numliered  about  730,000. 

OUR  CONGREGATIONAL  TASK 

The  American  Board  has  been  at  work  in  Africa  since  1835.  In  three  regions  we  have  now  well-estab¬ 
lished  work.  We  are  strategically  located  in  Natal,  where  we  work  among  the  Zulus,  one  of  the  finest 
specimens  of  all  African  peoples.  We  are  established  to  the  north  in  Rhodesia,  and  also  on  the  west  coast 
in  Angola,  where  we  are  res])onsible  for  five  million  of  the  promising  Ovimbundu  people.  In  these  three 
fields  we  have  105  missionaries  at  work. 

Our  missionaries  are  not  confronted  directly  by  the  great  problem  of  Mohammedanism.  But  they 
are  face  to  face  with  Paganism,  and  with  the  problems  brought  by  the  unscrupulous  white  man.  In 
South  Africa  they  face  pressing  race  problems  between  white  and  black,  and  also  because  of  the  influx  of 
Hindus.  Everywhere  new  problems,  as  well  as  opportunities,  arise  from  the  growing  sense  of  his  own 
im])ortance,  which  the  black  man’s  share  in  the  Great  War  has  brought. 

Our  work  in  Johannesburg,  in  the  Transvaal,  is  a  remarkable  example  of  twentieth  century  missionary 
methods,  aimed  to  meet  the  evils  of  European  “civilization.”  Johannesburg  is  in  the  heart  of  the  Rand, 
the  great  mining  region,  from  which  comes  10  per  cent  of  the  world’s  gold.  The  white  man’s  brain, 
ca]>ital,  and  energy  have  developed  this  gohl  field,  but  the  black  man  has  furnished  the  indispensable 
“cheap  labor.”  About  300,000  black  men  are  at  work  in  the  Rand.  They  come  from  all  sections  of 
the  sub-continent,  work  six  months  or  so  in  the  mines,  and  then  return  to  their  kraals,  while  new 
laborers  take  their  places.  In  a  year  about  500,000  raw  heathen  come  under  the  spell  of  Johannesburg, 
and  in  its  “University  of  Crime”  take  full  cour.ses  in  the  vices  and  crimes  of  civilization.  They  come 


+  Vw 


neathcn;  k  to  their  kraals  “devils,”  unless  —  !  And  right  here  the  missionary  steps  in,  not 

only  with  his  chapels  and  schools,  Imt  with  a  social  center,  game  and  reading  rooms,  gymnasium  and 
swimming  pool,  moving  pictures  and  other  clean  amusements.  The  missionary  is  the  black  man’s  friend, 
visiting  him  in  the  mine  compound,  and  in  the  barracks,  following  him  up  in  slum  and  saloon.  The 
influence  of  this  work  is  felt  all  over  the  southern  half  of  the  continent,  for  many  of  these  laborers  return 

to  their  homes  Christians,  and  start  new  centers  of 
Christian  influence.  Recently  two  such  centers  have 
sprung  u])  without  any  aid  from  the  missionaries, 
through  the  work  done  by  Christian  black  men  re¬ 
turned  from  Johannesburg.  Part  of  the  task  of  our 
missionaries,  especially  of  Dr.  F.  B.  Bridgman,  is  to 
follow  up  the  Johannesimrg  work,  by  touring  in  the 
outlying  fiekl,  encouraging  and  advising  these  earnest 
Christian  leaders. 

Another  outstanding  feature  of  our  work  in 
Africa  is  industrial  and  agricultural  education.  The 
African  peoples  need  training  in  the  most  elementary 
features  of  civilized  life.  At  Mt.  Silinda,  Rhodesia, 
our  brick  kiln,  saw  mill,  carpentry  and  machine  shops 
have  helped  build  Christian  character  in  the  men  and 
boys,  while  the  girls  have  l)een  trained  in  fundamental 
household  arts.  Such  industries  serve  also  to  provide 
for  the  growing  needs  of  the  surrounding  territory, 
and  aid  the  mission  tinancially  to  some  extent.  In 
the  West  Africa  field  industrial  training  is  being  devel¬ 
oped  chiefly  at  Dondi,  and  in  the  Zulu  field  at 
Amanzimtoti. 

The  medical  work  of  the  Board  in  Africa  is  on  a 
very  modest  scale,  compared  with  other  mission  fields. 
We  have  only  eight  physicians  at  work.  Only  two 


of  them  are  equipped  witli  a  building  worthy  of  the  name  “hospital,”  and  yet  each  one  is  doing  a  large 
and  exceedingly  important  work,  not  only  in  giving  physical  relief  to  the  sick,  but  also  in  raising  standards 
of  living  and  in  forming  friendly  relations  with  the  people  which  greatly  help  the  evangelistic  worker.  In 
Durban,  Dr.  McCord  is  developing  a  plan  to  train  promising  black  men  as  physicians  among  their  own 
people  in  meeting  the  more  simple  cases  of  illness.  They  will  help  to  put  the  witch  doctor  with  his 
nefarious  practices  out  of  business.  Nurses  also  are  being  trained  in  Durban. 

Underlying  all  the  social  and  medical  work,  the  schools  and  the  special  industrial/and  agricultural 
training,  is  evangelism.  Every  missionary  is  an  evangelistic  worker,  whether  he  is  working  with  the  Bible 
and  hymn  book,  the  school  book,  the  lancet,  the  plow,  or  the  gymnasium;  yet  in  each  mission  there  are 
men  and  women  who  are  giving  their  whole  time  to  religious  in.struction.  To  them  great  opportunities 
are  opening  up.  Just  now  an  unusual  evangelistic  opportunity  is  reported  from  West  Africa.  Within 
a  year  about  forty  ])laces  have  been  opened  uj).  A  new  population  of  ninety  thousand  was  thus  reached, 
and  nearly  three  thousand  children  were  placed  under  Christian  instruction.  What  the  results  of  such 
openings  may  be  can  hardly  be  imagined. 


WILL  YOU  HELP  WIN  AFRICA? 


For  the  year  1922  the  American  Board  is  appropriating  $72,891  for  general  work  and  missionary  support 
in  x4frica.  Of  this  amount  about  $27,000  is  subscribed  l)y  churches  particularly  intere.sted  in  that  field. 
But  that  leaves  $45,000  unsubscribed.  We  offer  a  $10,000  block  of  this  budget  to  our  churches  now. 
When  that  block  is  subscribed  another  will  be  offered.  A  share  is  $25,  a  convenient  sum  for  individual 
gifts,  for  small  churches,  for  young  j)eoi)le's  societies.  For  the  larger  churches  a  l>lock  of  shares  may  be 
.subscribed. 


WHAT  THE 

Salaries . 

Portions  of  five  salaries 


,000  BUDGET  INCLUDES 


$4,150 


General  Work 

Evangelism .  2,500 

Education  (including  general  and  industrial) .  3,000 

Medicine .  250 

Social  Work .  100 


$10,000 

Subscribing  any  portion  of  this  —  one  share  or  many  shares  —  means  having  a  part  in  all  phases  of 
our  work  in  Africa.  It  means  sharing  in  the  salaries  of  missionaries  engaged  in  various  lines  of  work:  — 
Dr.  Bridgman,  in  his  far-reaching  evangelistic  work  along  the  Hand,  Mr.  Phillips,  in  his  important  under¬ 
takings  in  the  Johannesburg  social  center;  Mr.  Alvord,  trained  agriculturist,  and  Mr.  Mather,  educational 
supervisor,  l)oth  in  Rhodesia;  and  Dr.  Hollenbeck  in  West  Africa,  physician  first,  but  incidentally  promoter 
of  industries,  agriculture,  and  many  another  activity.  It  means  contributing  to  the  work  itself  in  all  its 
phases,  from  the  enterprises  in  the  big  cities  like  Durban  and  Johannesburg,  to  the  villages  in  the  heart  of 
the  continent,  among  the  people  who  are  “waiting  for  the  words.”  It  means  making  an  investment  which, 
through  church  and  .school  and  hospital,  will  yield  rich  returns  in  Christian  character. 


WHO  IS  THE  FIRST  TO  INVEST  ? 


It  will  take  four  liuiidred  .shares  at  $25  jjer  share  to  cover  this  budget.  Almost  any 
church  could  raise  $25  aimually,  to  subscribe  for  one  share,  and  certainly  many  churches 
could  cover  two,  three,  four  or  fi\'e  shares.  A  certificate  will  be  sent  to  each  subscriber, 
and  three  letters  a  year  may  be  expectetl,  full  of  good  stories,  and  reporting  upon  the 
on-goings  of  the  work.  See  our  general  circular  of  information,  entitled.  Kingdom 
Investments  under  the  American  Board,  as  lo  the  advantages,  possibilities  and  con¬ 
ditions  which  we  offer  under  these  Kingdom  Investments  in  Africa.  Under  This  Plan 
Each  Subscriber  Is  Given  the  Opportunity  of  Sharing  in  Every  Item  of  the 
Budget;  Hence,  It  Should  Be  Kept  in  Mind  That  We  Cannot  Assign  Any  One 
Item  to  One  Person  or  Group.  Let  Us  All  Share  Together  in  This  Glorious 
Work  for  Christ. 


THE  AMERICAN  BOARD 


14  BEACON  STREET,  BOSTON 


) 


REV.  MERLIN  ENNIS  ACTING  LIKE  A  REAL  DOCTOR  AT  SACHIKELA 


GAMBLING  INSIDE  A  MINE  COMPOUND 
AT  JOHANNESBURG 


NEAR  THE  END  OF  THE  TRAIL 
M  rs.  Alvord  in  Llie  luacliila 


REV.  A.  E.  LEROY 
ADAMS 


SERVICE  INSIDE  MINE  COMPOUND 
JOHANNESBURC 


MR.  A.  R.  MA'I'IIER 
MT.  SILINDA 


SAAVMILL  AT  iMT.  SILINDA 


REV  F.  B  BRIDGMAN 
J  O  II  A 


N  N 


RE\  ,  R. 
S  B  U  R  G 


E.  PHILLIP 


mt. 

■Ij 

1 

INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING,  AFRICA'S  HOPE  FOR  THE  FUTURE 


AN  ANGOLA  iMAID 


